Fitness Files: Osteoporosis? How is it possible?

“Fracture risk likely,” says my bone-density lab report, diagnosing osteoporosis.

At the gym, I bench-press 45 pounds right next to the 30-year-old with the bulging tattooed bicep. I glare at another muscle-bound idiot, texting and hogging the bench where I want to military press 35 pounds. I’m as tough as any of these grunting gym rats.

Or am I? Maybe my femur’s about to crumble and my back will break with the next pull-over.

My 2014 DXA scan showed -2.5 T score, meaning 2.5 standard deviations below a person at peak bone mass. I’ve lost 9.3% of bone since the previous scan in 2007. Osteoporosis.

Yet, I’m a poster child for the osteoporosis prevention rulebook: no smoking, limited alcohol, no colas, no severe dieting, eat low-fat dairy and fish with bone, leafy greens and whole grains, do strength training and daily exercise, take no medications that could cause calcium loss. I’ve shown up for bone scans and taken whatever postmenopausal prescriptions that doctors advised.

In my 40s, I took estrogen replacement, and in my 50s I filled prescriptions for Fosamax. In the past 20 years, my doctor didn’t recommend prescriptions for osteoporosis, so I didn’t take them.

However, I’ve swallowed my calcium citrate, 630 mg plus vitamin D-3, in the mornings. I now take that evening pill I’d forgotten over the years, bringing me up to the recommended calcium dose. This is the only place I fault my prevention.

I do weight-bearing exercise every day.

But does any of this matter?

My DXA scan says “low bone mass” of spine and right and left femur and “fracture risk high.” My T-score is just past the osteopenia/osteoporosis border. I’ve made my appointment with the doctor for follow-up, but in the meantime, I run, hike on uneven terrain and continue my gym workout. The statement “fracture risk high” seems like fiction.

WebMD, under “Factors Affecting Peak Bone Mass,” says, “Peak bone mass is influenced by a variety of genetic and environmental factors. It has been suggested that genetic factors may account for up to 75% of bone mass, while environmental factors (like diet and exercise) account for the remaining 25%.”

I’m a shrimp, just over 5 feet tall — wrists and ankles the size of a healthy 12-year-old, a petite 12-year-old.

Here’s my question. I started with less bone than larger-sized humans. Everybody loses bone. Are we sure what I’ve got equals pathology? I expect the doctor to answer that question with a resounding yes at my May 18 appointment. I will report the answer.

In the meantime, I’ve read that using the same machine for DXA scans is important for accuracy. It never occurred to me to request the same DXA scanner.

I called Hoag and the technician agreed that testing by the same machine is most accurate but that Hoag machines are, at least, by the same manufacturer.

Next I found this from americanbonehealth.org:

“Your peak adult bone mass may have been below that of the average individual. For example, if you have a T-score of -2.5, it is not appropriate to say that you have lost 25% of your bone density. There are lab tests that can help your doctor determine if you are currently losing bone density.”

My family doctor ordered labs for electrolyte, kidney, urine, liver blood count, TSH, blood sugar, all of which were normal. D level is 36, with 50 being normal. I spend hours in the sun and take 3000 IU of D. Wow! The National Institutes of Health recommends 800 IU. I’m cutting back.

I can’t help question standard American medical practice centered on pharmacological solutions. Every osteoporosis treatment has side effects.

Medscape.com‘s Dr. Lara Pullen says “a paucity of comparative studies” makes it difficult to determine the relative effectiveness of osteoporosis medications. She says a study due to come out in 2016 “should shed some light on [their] relative efficacy and safety.”

The study is called “Vertebral Fracture Treatment Comparisons in Osteoporotic Women.” I Googled it and found that its sponsor is the Eli Lily drug company. This gives me concern about independent assessment.

I’m not accustomed to making alterations for illness. I resist considering treatment for something invisible. Yet, I will listen carefully to the doctor, and if my past behavior is any indication, I’ll take my medicine.

But today, move over. I’m heading for the free weights.

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Newport Beach resident CARRIE LUGER SLAYBACK is a 72-year-old marathoner who brought home first places in LA Marathons 2013 and 2014 and Carlsbad Marathon 2015. She lives in Newport Beach.